nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from nLight’s conference call:

• nLIGHT reported strong 2025 results with full-year revenue of $261 million (up 32% YoY), record A&D revenue of $175 million (+60% YoY), gross margin expanding to ~30%, Adjusted EBITDA of $23.5 million, and positive operating cash flow—showing clear operating leverage.
• The company gave Q1 2026 guidance of $70M–$76M (midpoint $73M) with overall gross margin expected 27%–32% and Adjusted EBITDA of $5M–$10M, while noting development revenue should decline sequentially after the DE M-SHORAD delivery.
• nLIGHT completed a follow-on equity raise netting over $190 million, giving it more than a quarter-billion in cash to fund a new 50,000 sq ft Longmont manufacturing buildout, supply-chain investments, staffing, R&D, and opportunistic M&A.
• The company is exiting the cutting and welding markets, which it expects will create a ~$25 million–$30 million full-year revenue headwind (mostly gone by H2 2026) even as it transitions those resources to higher-priority A&D and advanced manufacturing areas.
• nLIGHT highlighted a robust A&D pipeline—including progress on HELSI-2 (a $171M 1 MW program), delivery of the 50 kW DE M-SHORAD laser weapon module, a $50M missile-sensing contract, new international customers, and expected further awards tied to the government’s Golden Dome priorities.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR traded down $6.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.19. 3,708,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,632,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -119.55 and a beta of 2.33. nLight has a one year low of $6.20 and a one year high of $62.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.35 and its 200 day moving average is $36.48.

nLight News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target from $48 to $70 and assigned a “buy” rating, signaling confidence in continued revenue growth and implying ~24.6% upside from the current price. Needham Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $62.50 and moved to “overweight,” providing additional analyst support for the stock after the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped expectations: EPS $0.14 vs. $0.11 consensus and revenue $81.2M vs. $76.7M; revenue rose ~71% year‑over‑year. Management also set Q1 revenue guidance ($70–$76M) above consensus, which supports near‑term growth expectations. Q4 Earnings & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional interest: Bleakley Financial reported a new stake in nLight, indicating some institutional accumulation. Bleakley Stake
• Positive Sentiment: Management scheduled investor events and conferences in early March, increasing chances for deeper analyst/investor engagement and potentially clearer forward commentary. Investor Events
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options volume was reported, suggesting heightened speculative or hedging activity that can amplify intraday moves but is not itself a directional signal. Options Volume Note
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and raised guidance, the stock dropped as investors appeared to take profits after recent gains and reacted to remaining profitability concerns (negative net margin and ROE noted in the report). Several outlets reported the stock “tumbled” after the release. Stock Reaction Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy intraday volume and elevated volatility accompanied the move lower, which can exacerbate declines and indicates short‑term positioning changes rather than a change in underlying fundamentals. Market Reaction & Volume

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on nLight in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research lowered shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,126,855.68. This trade represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 127,502 shares of company stock worth $4,622,166 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in nLight by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,485,000 after buying an additional 341,948 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in nLight in the 4th quarter valued at about $353,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its stake in nLight by 176.5% in the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 30,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 19,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.